Outlet valve for tank cars



S. E. TURNER Oct. 8, 1929.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 8, 19 29. s TURNER 1,730,636

OUTLET VALVE FOR TANK CARS Filed Jan. 16, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedOct. 8, 1929 SAMUEL E. TURNER,. OF WIGHITA FALLS, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TPANHANDLE REFINING COMPANY, OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS OUTLET VALVE FORTANK CARS Application filed January 16, 1926. Serial No. 81,799.

The present invention relates to tank cars and more particularly tooutlet valves therefor.

At present, all tank cars are provided with a discharge pipe or outletleg riveted to the The top of the valve core is provided with arectangular socket member'in which is fitted an operating rod held inthe socket by atransverse pin or bolt and extending upwardly V throughthe tank into the dome where it is supported in a suitable valve rodsupport.

The valve is held down on its seat under a spring tension and operatedby a cam lever arranged to pull on the rod against the tension of thespring. The disadvantages of th s usual type of'valve are :that the coreor guide extends down'so far into the outlet leg that in case of a wreckor other case which might result in the breaking 0d of the outlet lenear the shell of the tank, the valve would be unseated or injured withresultant loss of the contents of the car; as the valve is'held closedonly by downward pressure of a spring, it is liable to become unseatedin heavy switching and theft of contents may be easily accomplished byexerting upward pressure on the valve either through the valve stem oron the valve plug direct from beneath the car without breaking the seal;because of its being a poppet valve type with small seating area andraising off its seat to permit discharge over the valve seat surface,this surface is exposed to-the contents of the car and to the atmosphereand gases'when the ear is empty resulting in'corrosi'on and pitting ofthe valve seat; the lifting of the valve ofl its seat in dischargingpermits any foreign sub stance or objects that maybe in the tank tobecome lodged between the valve and its seat preventing it from closing.

It is'the object of the present invention to overcome thesedisadvantages by the provision of an improved valve, valve support, andoutlet leg structure so constructed in relation to each other and to thecar as to insure against breakage or disarrangement of the'valve duringordinary or unusually rough usage of the car or upon bending or breakingoff of the outlet leg, and to arrange the operating parts so that thevalve will be substantially proof against unauthorized operation, f

and the valve seat protected from the corrosive action of the carcontents andthe atmosphere or other gases.

Other objects and various novel and advantageous features of the presentinvention will be apparent from a perusal of the following specificationand the drawings accompanying the same.

In the drawings: a I Fig. 1 is a detail view of the valve per se, partlyin section;

Fig. 2 isa sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; j

Fig. 3 is an-assembly view on a reduced scale, taken on a transversecross section through the tank of a tank car, the tank being shownfragmentarily.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 is the valve cage having a bore 2forming the stationary valve seat in which-is fitted a cooperating valvecore 3 carried by the movable valve member 4. The outer surface of thecore 3 and the engaging surface of the bore 2 are given a slightdownward taper and-ground to fit. A downwardly opening recess 5 isformed in the core with a pair of side openings or ports 6 arranged tobe brought into register with a pair of similar ports 7 in the valvecage 1. Close to the level of the. bottom of the ports"? are water drainopeningsor ports -8 in the core3 spaced slightly to one side of eachport 6 wherethey may be moved into communication with the ports 7without permitting communication between ports 6 and 7 The lower end orbottom of the valve cagel is threaded at 9 for engagement with theinternally threaded portion 10 at the upper end of an outlet pipe or leg11 secured end of the shaft 19.

over an opening 12 in the bottom of the tank 13 by a flange 14 andrivets 15. In connecting the cage andout'let leg 11 the threadedengagement is set sullieiently tight to produce a substantially .tixedjoint whereby the valve cage is held fixed in relation to the tankthrough the fixed connection of the leg 11. In the top portion of themovable valve member 4 is provided a socket member 16 having arectangularsocket 17 in which is fittedthe flat rectangular end 18 of avalve turning or operating shaft 19 held in the socket by'a locking pin20 passed through the transverse pin openings 21 in the socket memberand a hole (not shown) in the flattened The shaft 19 extends upwardlyinto the dome 22 where it passes through and has bearing in thesupporting bracket- 23, the shaft is provided with an operating handwheel 24 lixed thereon and carrying a downwardly extending leg 25 onwhich is slidably mounted a latching bolt 26 arranged to drop into anopening in the bracket 23 to latch the wheel and valve in closedposition, the bolt 26 being provided with a thumb lever 27 for raisingthe same.

Another leg 28 is carried by the hand wheel a 24 and extends downthrough the plane of the bracket 23 so that its path of travel will beintercepted by the bracket and thus operate as a stop for limiting theangular movement of the valve as predetermined by the setting or spacingof the leg 28 with respect to the other parts. Either otthe legs 25orr28 may be provided with an opening as indicated at 29 through which,and a hole .suitably located in the bracket 23, a car seal wire may bepassed for sealing the valvein closed position. To prevent upward move-'ment or unseating of the valve, a stop collar 30 is fixed on the valveshaft 19 close to the bottom of the supporting bracket 23 but them ofnon-corrodible metal such as Hills- McCanna alloy, and it is to be notedthat as such metals are usually softer than steel their use is madepracticable in a valve to be used for the purpose described, only by astructure of the type disclosed where the wearing surfaces are large andprotected against contusion or pounding and the lodgment of foreignmatter between the valve and its seat.

It will be seen from the angular relationof the dotted line radii a, inFig. 2, which pass throughthe remote edges of ports 7 and 8, re-

spectively, that in operation a quarter turn of the valve core in acounterclockwise direction will effect a complete closure of the.

carefully drained off without substantial loss of useful contents.

What I claim is:

1. A t nk car outlet valve structure comprising an outlet leg fixedlysecured to the bottom of the tank, a valve cage mounted in the top ofthe outlet leg within the tank having a vertical bore therein incommunication with the outlet leg and cage ports connecting the interiorof the bore with the interior of the tank, a vertical valve core fittedin said boreand having a chamber opening downwardly. in communicationwith the outlet leg and provided with main ports arranged to be rotatedinto register with the cage ports, said valve core being provided with awater drain port arranged to be opened independently of the said mainports, an operating shaft for the valve core extending into the dome ofthe tank,-a support for the shaft mounted in the dome, and operatingmeans.

connected with the shaft in the dome.

2. In a tank car having a downwardly ex tending outlet leg, a'rotaryvalve structure mounted at the top of the'outlet leg substantiallywholly within the tank and means within the tank for operating saidvalve structure to open and close a channel from the 'car into theoutlet leg. together with a drain port in said valve independent of themain channel,

said drain port being arranged with its lowermost level at the lowermostlevel of the tank.

3. In a tank car having an outlet opening in the bottom or lowermostlevel of'the tank, the combination of a valve cage mounted over theopening and having a cage port arranged with its lower edge atsubstantially the lowermost level of the tank, a variable valve memberin the cage having a ,main valving port arranged to connect said cageport with the said outlet and a drain valving port smaller than saidmain port or the cage port arranged to connect the cage port with thesaid outlet independently of the main port, said drainport beingarranged with its lowermost level at the lowermost level of the cageport.

4., A valve for tank cars comprising a cage having a main port,adaptedwhen open to connect the interior of the tank with an outlet, a variablevalve member in the cage having a main valve port arranged to connectsaid cage port with the said outlet and a drain valve port in said valvemember smaller than said main port or the cage port, the angularrelationof said ports in said variable valve member being such that in operationapproximately a quarter turn of the valve in one direction will elfect acomplete closure of the valve, while a slight turn in the otherdirection will bring the drain port into communication with the cageport and enable wateror other sediment to be drained oil withoutsubstantial loss of useful contents.

5. An outlet valve for tank cars comprising the followinginstrumentalities: an outlet leg flanged at its uper endand the flangesecured to the bottom tank sheet of the car, a valve cage secured intothe upper end of the bore of said outlet leg, and an inverted cupshapedvalve core, said cage being open through its bore from top to bottom andprovided with lateral ports above the level of the flange on the outletleg, and said cup-shaped core dropped into the cage with its open enddown and its closed end up and carrying an annular horizontal flangeextending outwardly around its closed end to cover and protect thebearing surfaces of cage and valve, with lateral ports in the lowerwalls of the core cooperating with the ports in the cage, so that whendropped into the cage the core forms therewith a two-part valve with thetop closed, the bottom open and only lateral inlet ports of openings;

6. The two-part valve claimed in claim 5, in which the cage has thickwalls and heavy mass and the core also has heavy mass to normallymaintain itself in position in the cage, the combined masses having anatural period of vibration below that of any of the adjacent parts ofthe car.

7 The two-part valve claimed in claim 5,

in which the cage and the core combined have a heavy mass with a naturalperiod of vibration lower than that of the adjacent parts of the car,the mass of the core being sufficient to maintain it in position withinthe cage under all conditions, except those of malicious tampering, withmeans extendin /ii1to the dome of the tank for turning sai core andother means associated therewith outside the valve'acting asa limit stopto prevent vertical lifting of thecore in or out of the cage. v

8. A two-part valve for tank carscomprising the followinginstrumentalities: an outlet leg flanged at its upper end and having theflange riveted to'the bottom tank sheet of the car aroundan opening'inthe tank sheet suflicient to'leave clearance around the o ening throughthe outlet leg, a valve cage 0 heavy mass with an opening extendingthrough it and slightly tapering inward 'rom top to bottom, said cagehaving its lower end threaded to the upper end of the outlet leg,lateral ports in the side walls of said cage just above the level of thetop of the flange of the outlet leg, and a valve core also of heavy massin the shape of an inverted cup closed at its top and open at its lowerend externally tapered to fit the cage and provided with a horizontalflange extending outwardl around its closed end and adapted when t ecore is in position to completely cover and protect the bearing toprevent vertical or rotary movement thereof, whereby its low naturalperiod of vibration and the action of gravitation will tend to keep thevalve seated under all conditions except those of malicious tampering,and the operating rod will prevent displacement by such tampering.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

SAMUEL E. TURNER.

